by C L Bauer
The doorbell rang in the knick of time.
“Thank the Lord, you have been saved.” Alise welcomed Becky into the apartment. Angelica ran to the woman to offer a warm embrace before peppering her with questions including if she could stay up until midnight. She had the agent by the hand, leading her away into a bedroom.
“I’m so sorry about her.”
Dev eyed Alise. “No, you’re not.”
She smiled. “Actually, you’re right. I was kind of wondering how you two were doing too. I know it’s hard with all this going on.”
He came out from behind the counter and leaned on a bar stool. “I don’t understand why Angel likes Lily so much.”
Alise prepared her small beaded clutch bag adding a lipstick and mascara. “I probably haven’t told you this. Lily came to mom’s funeral, in fact she brought Angelica a stuffed animal, a small lavender lamb. At the luncheon later, I was visiting with relatives I hadn’t seen in years, and I realized my little girl wasn’t near me. I was frantic. You know, after what happened with my dad, I’ve been scared. I can’t lose one more person.” She took a breath.
“I found my child sitting on Lily’s lap, and they were reading a book. They were just sitting there in the grass. Angelica was leaning against her, almost asleep, completely at peace in your girl’s arms.”
Dev envied Angel. He wanted that same feeling; to be in those same arms and to fall asleep with her again and always. He hung his head and looked up slowly. “She does have that effect, to make people completely comfortable in the middle of the chaos.”
“So, about tonight and any other days and nights to come, if this goes wrong, my little girl will be happy with you. One of the justice department lawyers wrote it up for me just like I told you. If both of us go, I know she will have a good life with Lily. She would do that for me, wouldn’t she?”
He realized how serious Alise was. He knew how serious the outcome could be, for both of them. He instantly knew the answer.
“They’d have each other. That would be a good thing.”
Dev smiled. “But I hear lately you’ve had someone in your life.” He winked at Alise.
“If you are talking about the nice agent that preps me and spends time over here protecting us, it’s just professional. Of course, on Christmas I just wanted you both to have a nice holiday.”
Dev watched Alise as she nervously checked the kitchen over and moved some papers from one location to another. “You don’t like Carlos? Angel seems to like him very much, and she says he makes your face soft.”
“He’s a very nice man.” She avoided Dev’s eyes, but she could feel his gaze. The man was just too smart for his own good. She looked up and smiled. “Fine, I wouldn’t mind seeing him tonight after we are finished. It is New Year’s Eve afterall. I’d like a special kiss and not from you. I figure after midnight he is off the clock.”
Dev understood completely. “I won’t kid you about it. I promise.” He marked an “X” across his chest. “You two are great together. He likes you.”
“Really?” Alise grabbed Dev’s hands in hers. Her voice had raised like a teenager’s, holding all the excitement of falling in love for the first time. “Don’t mess with me. I really like him. You’d tell me if he’s just playing me, right? I can’t afford to get hurt. I have a child. I can’t have him breaking her heart.”
Dev was deadly serious. “He is a good man. He has to playact in his job too but with you, it’s real. If it isn’t and he does mess with you, I will make sure he’ll be the one hurt. But I know him. He really does like you.” Note to self again, I need to find that guy who hurt Lily.
“Oh, good.” She felt like a little girl again, light with joy and love in her heart. “Now let’s go kick some bad guy butt.”
After hugs and kisses with Angel, Dev and Alise made their way from the safety of the normal life of Pompano Beach into the danger and uncertainty of New Year’s Eve in Miami’s South Beach. For most, South Beach night life was exciting and enticing. For a DEA agent and his companion and contact into the elite drug world, New Year’s Eve was the end of the year and could even result in the end of their lives.
Dev drove the silver Lamborghini to the valet and then came around to assist Alise out of the vehicle. Now, with her black heels she was only a couple inches shorter than him. He slid his arm around her waist as they began their act. Tonight would be filled with deception and danger. There would be no more talk about Angel, Lily or even Carlos. They were a couple. They lived in an expensive penthouse worth millions with a view of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Biscayne Bay on the other. Her dress was thousands of dollars and her jewelry was nearly fifty thousand; his suit, shirt, ties, shoes, and sunglasses were Versace. He had just returned from a trip to Italy where he was establishing a drug route from Angola. He looked powerful and dangerous and most knew him as an ice broker, diamonds and now drugs. They looked like they belonged in South Beach, and they looked as though they belonged to each other.
This had been Alise’s world until she had escaped from the money and the drugs. She had ended up pregnant and alone with one piece of luggage to her name, sitting on a street corner looking for her next hit. Her boyfriend had thrown her out when he learned she was pregnant and wanted to keep the child. She was of no use to him. He couldn’t party with her or use her as a mule to smuggle drugs in or out of the country. He certainly couldn’t let a friend “borrow” her for the night as she became larger with the child. He wasn’t even sure the child was his. He had given her to a newcomer for months so they could cultivate the new man for their family’s drug trade. That man might even be the baby’s father. Besides, her boyfriend was the son of a Mexican drug lord outside of Mexico City and she was nothing.
A police woman found her sitting on that curb and got her into treatment. They convinced her she was worth something. She had her baby and never looked back; never looked back until she was forced to go back into that world to save her family. Her brother had died from an overdose. She had escaped, but you were never really out, unless they wanted you to be. Then, you probably weren’t breathing. She had been approached by various contacts. Her family would be killed if she didn’t get those mistakenly shipped drugs. But she always thought there was more to it.
At her father’s funeral in Kansas City she had thought she saw a familiar face from that past life. Her boyfriend from those years ago was dead. He’d been killed in a sting operation, much like this ongoing one. But the face was from her past, the man she’d been given to, to please, to bring into the fold. She had shaken it off as shock.
As they entered the club, they were directed to their table. All eyes were on them. They actually made a stunning couple. She smiled at Dev and kissed his cheek slightly, careful not to get her red lipstick on his collar. It wouldn’t look good to visit an ex and bring your current man to him looking like you’d just made out in the back of a restroom stall. Besides, Dev was all business and everyone in that club who were watching knew it. They would not be bothered.
Dev slid in next to her. Champagne was ready for them. The waiter opened it and poured a glass for Alise. Dev waved him off and ordered a bourbon. They talked with their heads close, romantic, yet in reality they were talking about everyone around them. Dev was pointing out the various agents throughout the room. Alise was noticing old friends and bad ones. A woman she had known as Daisy was much older now and looked it. She was snorting lines of cocaine off of a napkin. She had a trail of blood coming from one nostril. Alise had become sick to her stomach. Had she really looked like that? Been that desperate?
“Do you dance?”
Dev took a slow drink of his bourbon, making sure everyone saw his gold cufflinks and Rolex watch. “Yes and no.”
She threw back her head as though she was laughing at the funniest joke ever.
“Which is it?”
“I do dance but no, I don’t want to. Besides, I hear you salsa dance with someone else while I’m away.” He had b
roken his own protocol by any mention of another man.
Alise nuzzled his ear seductively. “But he’s not here. Is he?”
“He’s probably listening,” Dev whispered. “Or in some hotel somewhere doing absolutely nothing.”
“Except watching your every move, sir,” Carlos answered in Dev’s earpiece. “Dev, some men from the Sinaloa Cartel have just driven up with some women. I don’t know them. You might want to watch your six.”
“Got it,” Dev muttered.
“It’s New Year’s Eve, darling. Dance with me.” She was loud in her begging, pulling at his arm. Dev shook his head negatively and pulled his arm away.
He glared at her. “You’re very good at this.”
“It kept me alive for a few years until I got clean,” Alise answered. “Does Carlos have a message?”
“Yes. More men are coming in. They’re probably here to meet your guy.” He paused and held her hand. “I’m sorry you’re here again.”
She sipped her champagne. “I’m not. I feel worthwhile this time.”
Dev began to answer her, but she stopped him short with a raised hand as she looked at the club table in the far corner. She saw the cartel group headed in that direction.
She’d seen just a face in her glance. But it was enough of a view.
“He’s here.”
“Which one is he?”
She leaned over as though she were kissing her man on the cheek.
“He’s the one in the blue shirt. He’s a little older looking but he still looks like a baby. I used to just call him that. He seemed so young back then. I can go over and say hello.”
“Did you end on good terms?”
“Well, I was pregnant. I never told him. Sadly, and I’m not proud of this, I’m not sure if my boyfriend or he was Angelica’s father. It’ll be safe to stop by his table and get you an introduction. This is what we’ve been working toward. He’d be cool with that. It’s been years but I think it would be fine, especially tonight. When I was out a few weeks ago with the female agent, one of my old friends told me he wanted to hook up again. She informed him that I had someone new; someone who could buy and sell him. I told you it would work.”
“I can’t see him. I’d like to get a look at him before you go over.”
“Lean back and wave your hand to get another drink. You’ll see him. There’s three women in the booth with him and they’re all wearing gold. Those cartel boys are smiling at him. He must be on good terms with them.”
Dev casually did as she directed and waved to a server. His eyes darted to the corner quickly, seeing the flashes of colors and then the man in the blue shirt. His stomach churned.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course. I know the man I lived with, the man I was given to.” She turned to see him and her ex raised a glass to her. “Should I go over now?”
“No,” Dev answered sternly. “You’re not going near that man again. We’re leaving.”
Dev’s behavior worried her. What had he seen that she hadn’t? He was acting like a jealous boyfriend. “What’s wrong?”
“I know him, Alise. Hell, Lily knows him. I’m pretty damn sure he had your father killed. His name is Garrett Notte.”
Alise understood everything at warp speed.
“I only knew him as G. He could be the Americano, and he could be my baby’s father,” she said with terror in her quivering voice.
He nodded. He left five one-hundred dollar bills on the table and lifted her up out of the booth. He already had his sunglasses on. They walked casually out of the club, at one point Dev spinning her around as if they were still in a party mood. They were now contenders for the Academy Award.
They waited for the valet to retrieve the car, snuggling close together. Dev texted Carlos and the task force commander. “HIBISCUS WILTED, STAND DOWN.” He completely enveloped Alise’s body in his as though he were an overprotective lover.
Their ride was silent to the hotel but Dev’s pulse only slowed when they pulled up in the drive. An undercover agent opened his door, promised to park it safely, and passed him a USB stick. Dev’s breathing wasn’t normal until the couple entered the room. Neither of them had said one word on the elevator.
As they entered the large command center suite, Alise kicked off her heels in the direction of Carlos. He dodged the incoming missiles. When one almost hit him in the nose, she mouthed that she was sorry, adding a thin smile just for him.
“Now what are we going to do? Look, look at this,” she handed Dev a small note. “The waiter slipped this to me on our way out. It says G is interested in meeting my new guy sometime soon in Key West. He says to meet in the old place, a house off of Duval Street next week to pick up more instructions. I remember it.”
Dev looked at the note. He didn’t know how to read this. Had Garrett recognized him? Did he know who he was? “And that’s what we’re going to do. We have no other choice. He may be just playing us along, stalling for time, maybe another shipment. If the Sinaloa Cartel is involved, he is certainly in play on a big shipment or buy.”
Dev was pacing like a caged animal. He handed the USB flash drive to Carlos. “I’m guessing this is info for you to download, surveillance, accounts, whatever the hell it is.”
He threw the gold cufflinks onto the table, threw his jacket over the nearest chair, nearly missing another agent and pulled his shirt out over his tighter than usual pants. He removed the Italian shoes throwing them into the open door of one of the suite’s bedrooms.
“Carlos, have you contacted Nash yet?”
“I told her something was wrong.”
“We need Angel and Alise packed and out of that apartment.”
Alise was sitting in a chair, facing three other men. “I’m not running this time.”
“I appreciate your bravery, but that little girl needs to be protected and so do you. You won’t be coming with us. You’ve come too far, Alise.”
She stared at him. “I’m not running. I will be there with you. He may be my little girl’s father, and the only way to protect her is to take him down. The only way to protect Lily is to take him out. Now get yourself together and let’s get this done so we can stop running and looking over our shoulders.”
Carlos watched the exchange. His old commanding officer stood down, literally collapsing into the nearest chair and unbuttoning his Italian custom-made shirt. This woman was formidable. This woman was courageous. After the weeks he’d spent with Alise and her daughter he knew she was something special. He suddenly thought he might be in love and for real this time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Abby had more than enough to do while Lily went shopping with Dev’s Aunt Pat. The two had become great friends. Besides, Lily needed the break after the Valentine’s Day they’d had. The two days prior to the evil day, they’d actually worked, ate and slept in the shop. Jeremy and another friend of hers from college had delivered over two hundred orders. That was a good holiday for their little shop. Thankfully, Lily had turned down any other work, including weddings. Besides, she’d learned from her boss that there wasn’t much profit in weddings around Valentine’s Day. Wholesale flower prices soared, and most brides wanted a little of this and a little of that. She was beginning to appreciate the word “profit”.
Abby was sure that the only two women to not receive flowers in Kansas City on February 14 was herself and her boss. Dev had sent a card promising wonderful future romantic days. Jeremy had brought them food. Both objects were much appreciated. Lily read her card, shed a tear and got back to work. When the food came, they’d eaten and returned to work.
During a break late in the night on the thirteenth, Abby was searching through photos on her phone. She was nostalgic; hoping to find that perfect photo of Jeremy and her in some loving embrace. It wasn’t that easy, but she did find photos from the misplaced drug shipment chaos.
“Lily, you are not going to believe what I just found.”
Lily was holding three
pink roses, trying to find room for them among the nine red ones in a small heart vase. “You and Jeremy looking lovingly into each other’s eyes?” She snorted with a small laugh. Love was highly overrated, especially at midnight on Valentine’s Day if you were a florist. And your back hurt, your fingers had cuts, your cuts had cuts, you’d been nailed by every thorn imaginable, and you hadn’t washed your hair in two days.
“Come look.”
Lily knew Abby wouldn’t stop until her eyes were on the photo. She cleaned her hands with a towel and took the chair next to Abby. “Let me see.”
With the cell phone in her hand, Lily removed her glasses and looked at the photo. It was of a box of dead hydrangeas. The next one was again, dead hydrangeas. She slid the screen for more. She saw an image of an address on a shipping label. There was another. Holy Moly.
“Abby, you’ve had this information on your phone the entire time?” Lily was almost shouting at her assistant. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, but really?”
Abby shrugged her shoulders. “You told me to take photos, so I did of the dead hydrangeas that started this whole mess and then the outside, the packing slip, the address. I forgot. I forgot we had this.”
Lily went into Abby’s contacts and found Tom’s name. She texted him the photos and added a few lines. “DEV MIGHT NEED THESE. YES, FROM THOSE HYDRANGEAS. THE ADDRESSES ARE FROM MIAMI AND ECUADOR. HOPE THIS HELPS. ABBY FORGOT SHE HAD THEM.”
Lily handed back the phone and returned to her flowers. Abby followed.
“How much more, boss?”
“There’s just three more orders over there to fill and then we get a few hours of sleep before tomorrow.” There was no more talk of photos, hydrangeas, packing slips or of love.
Another Valentine’s Day passed and all was right with the world at least until the next crisis.
It was quiet in the shop today. The only noise was Mort grooming her left foot. Abby loved that dog, in fact, Lily allowed “sleepovers”. Abby would pick Mort up on Saturday night and they’d spend Sunday and Monday together while Lily ran her errands, cleaned the house, and caught up on her bookkeeping in the shop. Jeremy went running with the dog. They’d be gone for a couple of hours Sunday morning, returning with pastries and coffee. Abby wasn’t sure if Jeremy was running because of the dog or his sudden attempt to get healthier. Either way it was slightly annoying but did offer her a quiet time by herself without sports on the tv or an animal licking her paws.
